Breech-closure for ordnance.



PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

0. S. DEAN. BREEGH CLOSURE FOR ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 1906.

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Q i a iilllxlilllw/ INVENTOR PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

C. S. DEAN. BREEGH CLOSURE FOR ORDNANGE.

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APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CYRUS S. DEAN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALBERT D. JAMIESON, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

BREECH-CLOSURE FOR ORDNANCE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, UYRUs S. DEAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Buffalo, county of Erie, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Closures for Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to breech closures for ordnance.

As ordinarily constructed, breech closures are subject to very serious defect inasmuch as they have interrupted screw-threads by which they are engaged with the breech of the piece of ordnance and such threads, after a relatively small number of shots have been fired, become crystallized and it occasionally happens that the breech closure is blown rearwardly on firing the gun, thereby causing much damage and loss of life.

My object is to obviate the necessity for entering the breech closure at the rear of the breech and by providing a solid rear part to the breech, strengthen the piece of ordnance and lengthen its life; provide an improved and novel movable breech closure adapted to move laterally to open and close the breech and to place the shell or projectile in position and provide a solid, strong and durable closure which cannot be blown out, as also to provide improved and novel operating mechanism for the breech closure; and an other object is to so position and adapt the breech closure that a breech of but minimum size is necessitated so that the gun is not unnecessarily weakened.

In carrying out my invention, a well-known form of projectile or shell positioning device may be employed to locate the shell inthe bore of the gun and an ordinary type of firing mechanism may be employed.

The invention is set forth fully hereinafter and the novel features are recited in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a piece of ordnance equipped with my improved breech closure, the parts of which, with the exception of the cable for the counterbalancing weight, are shown in full lines; Fig. 2, an end elevation; Fig. 3, a sectional view of the arc-shaped or semi-sheave, illustrating the counterbalance suspending cable; Fig. 4, a horizontal section of a modification, showing my improvements in full lines; Fig. 5, an end elevation of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6, a section on. line 66 of Fig. 5.

The numeral 1. represents a piece of ordnance having the usual bore 2, while 3 is an ordinary projectile or shell.

The rear end or breech of the gun 1 is solid, as shown at l, except for a semi-cylindrical groove or notch 5 which extends to the breech 6. The breech 6 is of slightly greater length than the projectile or shell 3 and extends laterally of the gun in the arc of a circle, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2. This permits the introduction of the shell or projectile laterally and enables the solid breech 4 to be used, While on account of the breech closure swinging on a pivot, the center of the circle of which is breech G, constitutes an arc, enables the breech 6 to occupy but a minimum amount of space and necessitates cutting away of only a minimum part of the gun so that the latter is not weakened.

J ournaled in suitable lugs or brackets 7 on the gun 1 is a shaft 8 to which is secured arms 9 and 10, and to these arms are securely fastened by the fastenings 11, an arc-shaped breech closure 12 having a semi-cylindrical or rounded free end 13. The closure 12 is of the proper width and length to fit the breech G at all points, and its curvature is the same as that of the breech (5, as both the breech 6 and the breech closure 12 constitute arcs of a circle struck from the center of shaft 8. A lever 14 is secured to the shaft 8 for opening and closing the breech 12 and to counterbalance the breech and lover, there is provided an arc-shaped or semisheave 15 secured to the shaft 8, a cable 16 lying in said semisheave and secured thereto only at the point 17, and a counter weight or balance 18 connected to the other end of the cable 16 and freely depending.

To push the projectile into the bore 2 in position for firing, there may be employed a pusher rod 19, and to fire the gun, the usual electric firing pin 20 may be used.

Assuming the breech closure is open, as shown in Fig. 2, and it is desired to load the gun, the projectile 3 is slid forward in the groove 5 into the breech G in front of the curved free end 13 of the breech closure 12, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The gunner then swings the hand lever 14 upwardly, thereby swinging the breech closure 12 into the breech 6 and positioning the projectile in line with the bore 2, whereupon the rod 19 is pushed in and the projectile is thus placed as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 after which the rod 19 is withdrawn to the position shown, and the lever 14 swung still further so that the breech is completely closed, whereupon the gun may be fired.

Referring to the modified construction shown in Figs. 4, 5 and G, the breech 6 is straight instead of struck in the arc of a circle in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the projectile or shell being introduced in the trough 5. Brackets 25 and 26 are secured to the side of the gun by fastenings 27, the upper faces of the brackets forming continuations of the bottom of the breech 6. .Tournaled in the brackets 25 and 26-is a shaft 8, to the rear end of which is se-' cured a hand wheel 28, while a collar 29 may be employed on shaft 8 to prevent longitudinal play of said shaft. The hand wheel 28 is of such form that there is ample space between its spokes tb permit the pass-' ing of the projectile between said spokes to position it in the trough The numeral 30 designates the breech closure which has a rounded or semi-cylindrical forward end 13 to conform to the inner wall of the breech (i and an outer curved surface 31 which makes a smooth finish with the outside of the gun when the breech is closed. The breech closure 30 is adapted to slide back and forth on the brackets 25 and 26 and it has channels in its under face in which are secured racks 32 and 33 with which mesh pinions 3f1and 35 secured on shaft 8. The pinions 34 and 35, by their position in the channels in which the racks are located, also act as guides and retaining devices for the breech closure to prevent it from shifting in the direction of the length of the gun, and the collar 29 assists in this function. The operation of loading is as follows: The projectile or shell is inserted through the wheel 28 into thetrough 5 and in front of the breech closure 30, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, whereupon the gunner turns the hand wheel and feeds the closure into the breech 6 until the projectile is in line with the bore Zfwhereupon the positioning or placing device 19 is operated to bring the projectile to the position shown in full lines in Fig. fl, and after the positioning device 1.9 has been withdrawn to the posi: tion shown in full lines, the hand wheel 28 is given a further turn to completely close the breech.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a breech closure for 'ordnance, the combination with a gun having a closed rear end and provided with a breech opening extending in a general transverse direction to the length of the gun and which is curved in the arc of a circle, of a breech closure pivoted to swing in the are of a circle the same as that of the breech closure, and a counterbalance for said breech closure.

2. In a breech closure for ordnance, the combination with a gun having a closed rear end and provided with a breech opening extending in a generaltransverse direction to the gun and which is curved in the arc of a circle, of a breech closure pivoted to swing in the arc of a circle the same as that of the breech, and a counterbalance for said closure comprising an arc-shaped or se1nisheave movable with the breech closure, a counter-balancing weight, and a suspending cable connected to the weight and con nected to the arc-shaped or semi-sheave.

3. In a breech closure for ordnance, the combination with a gun having a closed rear end and provided with a breech opening extending in a general transverse direc tion to the gun and which is curved in the arc of a circle,

of a breech closure of the same curvature as the breech opening, an arm connected to said breech closure and piv died at a point lying substantially at the center of the circle in which the breech opening and breech closure are "included, and a counterbalancing device comprising an arcshaped or sernrsheave connected to the pivotal mem ber of the arm, a counterbalancing weight, and a cable connected to the weight and to the arc-shaped or semisheave.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CYRUS S. DEAN. Witnesses SARAH V. LocKwooD, FRANCES HueHns. 

